MOSYLOADEDBLOGNEWS
A Libyan militant accused of leading the
September 11 , 2012 attack on an
American diplomatic compound in
Benghazi that left the US ambassador
and three others dead goes on trial
Monday.
Ahmed Abu Khattala is charged with 18
counts of murder, supporting terrorists
and related charges in the trial in the
federal district court in Washington,
three years after he was captured in a
commando raid and sent by ship to the
United States .
Khattala, about 46 , was the commander
of an Islamist militia in Benghazi , Ansar
al- Sharia , which undertook the deadly
raid on the US compound in the eastern
port city.
According to the indictment, he led a
group of about 20 militants storming the
compound. They set buildings on fire,
including one that contained
ambassador Christopher Stevens and a
foreign service officers, killing them .
Shortly afterward they killed two US
security contractors in an attack on a
CIA outpost near the mission compound .
The attack shocked Americans but
turned into a bitter political fight in
which Republicans sought in a multi -
year investigation to pin the blame for
the popular diplomat ’ s death on then -
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead
of her planned run for the presidency.
13 days on a ship
The trial of Khattala , who has pleaded
not guilty, was stalled by a steady
stream of motions challenging the way
he was brought to the United States and
the use of evidence from two
interrogations .
After his capture he was not spirited
quickly back to the United States by jet,
but placed on a navy ship for two
weeks .
There he first underwent five days of
interrogation by intelligence agents .
Then he was interrogated by a team
from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation for several days .
In August the Washington court ruled
against his lawyers ’ motion to suppress
whatever he told his interrogators as
evidence, because his rights to remain
silent, know the charges against him
and have a lawyer present were
violated.
His lawyers also argued that the lengthy
13 day trip by ship back to the United
States was part of a scheme to extract
information from him without legal
protections.
But in his August 16 ruling , Judge
Christopher Cooper ruled that in fact
FBI agents had repeatedly advised
Khattala of his “ Miranda ” rights to have
a lawyer present and to remain silent ,
and had “ knowingly and intelligently”
waived them .
“ Abu Khattala was treated humanely
and courteously : He was given breaks
every hour or two, and offered snacks
and refreshments ,” the judge said .
“ The sheer number of times Abu
Khattala waived his Miranda rights —
once in writing and twice verbally on
each typical interview day — is further
evidence of the waivers’ voluntariness .”
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